diff --git a/rpi-update b/rpi-update
index fb0a773..16fa599 100755
--- a/rpi-update
+++ b/rpi-update
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ BOOT_PATH=${BOOT_PATH:-"/boot"}
 WORK_PATH=${WORK_PATH:-"${ROOT_PATH}/root"}
 SKIP_KERNEL=${SKIP_KERNEL:-0}
 SKIP_SDK=${SKIP_SDK:-0}
+SKIP_REPODELETE=${SKIP_REPODELETE:-0}
+SKIP_BACKUP=${SKIP_BACKUP:-0}
+WANT_SYMVERS=${WANT_SYMVERS:-0}
 RPI_UPDATE_UNSUPPORTED=${RPI_UPDATE_UNSUPPORTED:-0}
 FW_REPO="${REPO_URI}.git"
 FW_REPOLOCAL="${WORK_PATH}/.rpi-firmware"
@@ -61,7 +64,7 @@ EOF
 function update_modules {
 	if [[ ${SKIP_KERNEL} -eq 0 ]]; then
 		echo " *** Updating kernel modules"
-		cp -vR "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/modules/"* "${FW_MODPATH}/"
+		cp -R "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/modules/"* "${FW_MODPATH}/"
 		find "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/modules" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d | while read DIR; do
 			BASEDIR=$(basename "${DIR}")
 			echo " *** depmod ${BASEDIR}"
@@ -78,17 +81,17 @@ function update_vc_libs {
 	ELFOUTPUT=$(readelf -a "${ROOT_PATH}/bin/bash")
 	if [ "${ELFOUTPUT}" != "${ELFOUTPUT/VFP_args/}" ]; then
 		echo " *** Using HardFP libraries"
-		cp -vR "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/vc/hardfp/"* "${ROOT_PATH}/"
+		cp -R "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/vc/hardfp/"* "${ROOT_PATH}/"
 	else
 		echo " *** Using SoftFP libraries"
-		cp -vR "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/vc/softfp/"* "${ROOT_PATH}/"
+		cp -R "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/vc/softfp/"* "${ROOT_PATH}/"
 	fi
 }
 
 function update_sdk {
 	if [[ ${SKIP_SDK} -eq 0 ]]; then
 		echo " *** Updating SDK"
-		cp -vR "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/vc/sdk/"* "${ROOT_PATH}/"
+		cp -R "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/vc/sdk/"* "${ROOT_PATH}/"
 	else
 		echo " *** As requested, not updating SDK"
 	fi
@@ -98,66 +101,60 @@ function update_firmware {
 	echo " *** Updating firmware"
 	rm -rf "${FW_PATH}/"*.elf
 	rm -rf "${FW_PATH}/"*.bin
-	cp -v "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.elf "${FW_PATH}/"
-	cp -v "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.bin "${FW_PATH}/"
-	cp -v "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.dat "${FW_PATH}/"
+	cp "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.elf "${FW_PATH}/"
+	cp "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.bin "${FW_PATH}/"
+	cp "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.dat "${FW_PATH}/"
 	if [[ ${SKIP_KERNEL} -eq 0 ]]; then
-		cp -v "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.img "${FW_PATH}/"
+		cp "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.img "${FW_PATH}/"
 		if [[ -n $(shopt -s nullglob; echo "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.dtb) ]]; then
-			cp -v "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.dtb "${FW_PATH}/"
+			cp "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"*.dtb "${FW_PATH}/"
 		fi
 	else
 		echo " *** As requested, not updating kernel"
 	fi
+	if [[ ${WANT_SYMVERS} -ne 0 ]]; then
+		if [[ -f "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"Module.symvers ]]; then
+			cp "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"Module.symvers "${FW_PATH}/"
+		fi
+		if [[ -f "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"git_hash ]]; then
+			cp "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/"git_hash "${FW_PATH}/"
+		fi
+	fi
 }
 
 function finalise {
 	if [[ -f "${FW_PATH}/arm192_start.elf" ]]; then
 		echo " *** Setting 192M ARM split"
-		cp -v "${FW_PATH}/arm192_start.elf" "${FW_PATH}/start.elf"
+		cp "${FW_PATH}/arm192_start.elf" "${FW_PATH}/start.elf"
 	fi
 	echo " *** Running ldconfig"
 	ldconfig -r "${ROOT_PATH}"
-	if [[ "${FW_REV}" == "" ]]; then
-		echo " *** Storing current firmware revision"
-		git --git-dir="${FW_REPOLOCAL}/.git" rev-parse "${BRANCH}" > "${FW_REVFILE}"
-	else
-		echo "${FW_REV}" > "${FW_REVFILE}"
-	fi
-	echo " *** Syncing changes to disk"
-	sync
-}
-
-function download_repo {
-	echo " *** Setting up firmware (this may take a few minutes)"
-	mkdir -p "${FW_REPOLOCAL}"
-	set +e
-	git clone "${FW_REPO}" "${FW_REPOLOCAL}" --depth=1 --branch "${BRANCH}"
-	RETVAL=$?
-	set -e
-	if [[ ${RETVAL} -ne 0 ]]; then
-		echo " !!! Failed to download new firmware files"
-		exit 1
-	fi
-}
-
-function update_repo {
-	# updating a depth=1 git tree doesn't work, so just kill it and clone a new one
-	rm -rf "${FW_REPOLOCAL}"
-	download_repo
+	echo " *** Storing current firmware revision"
+	echo "${FW_REV}" > "${FW_REVFILE}"
 }
 
 function do_backup {
-	echo " *** Backing up files"
-	rm -rf "${FW_PATH}.bak"
-	cp -va "${FW_PATH}" "${FW_PATH}.bak"
-	if [[ ${SKIP_KERNEL} -eq 0 ]]; then
-		rm -rf "${FW_MODPATH}.bak"
-		cp -va "${FW_MODPATH}" "${FW_MODPATH}.bak"
+	if [[ ${SKIP_BACKUP} -eq 0 ]]; then
+		echo " *** Backing up files (this will take a few minutes)"
+		if [[ -f "${FW_PATH}.bak" ]]; then
+			echo " *** Remove old firmware backup"
+			rm -rf "${FW_PATH}.bak"
+		fi
+		echo " *** Backing up firmware"
+		cp -a "${FW_PATH}" "${FW_PATH}.bak"
+		if [[ ${SKIP_KERNEL} -eq 0 ]]; then
+			if [[ -f "${FW_MODPATH}.bak" ]]; then
+				echo " *** Remove old modules backup"
+				rm -rf "${FW_MODPATH}.bak"
+			fi
+			echo " *** Backing up modules $(uname -r)"
+			mkdir -p "${FW_MODPATH}.bak" && cp -a "${FW_MODPATH}/$(uname -r)" "${FW_MODPATH}.bak"
+		fi
 	fi
 }
 
 function do_update {
+	download_rev
 	if [[ -f "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/pre-install" ]]; then
 		echo " *** Running pre-install script"
 		source "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/pre-install"
@@ -171,7 +168,10 @@ function do_update {
 		echo " *** Running post-install script"
 		source "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/post-install"
 	fi
-	echo " *** If no errors appeared, your firmware was successfully $1"
+	remove_rev
+	echo " *** Syncing changes to disk"
+	sync
+	echo " *** If no errors appeared, your firmware was successfully updated to ${FW_REV}"
 	if [[ "${ROOT_PATH}" == "/" ]]; then
 		echo " *** A reboot is needed to activate the new firmware"
 	fi
@@ -179,12 +179,16 @@ function do_update {
 
 function download_rev {
 	echo " *** Downloading specific firmware revision (this will take a few minutes)"
+	rm -rf "${FW_REPOLOCAL}"
 	mkdir -p "${FW_REPOLOCAL}"
-	FW_TARBALL="${FW_REPOLOCAL}/${FW_REV}.tar.gz"
-	echo " *** Decompressing downloaded firmware archive"
-	curl -L --output "${FW_TARBALL}" "${REPO_URI}/tarball/${FW_REV}"
-	tar xzf "${FW_TARBALL}" -C "${FW_REPOLOCAL}" --strip-components=1
-	rm "${FW_TARBALL}"
+	curl -L "${REPO_URI}/tarball/${FW_REV}" | tar xzf - -C "${FW_REPOLOCAL}" --strip-components=1
+}
+
+function remove_rev {
+	echo " *** Deleting downloaded files"
+	if [[ ${SKIP_REPODELETE} -eq 0 ]]; then
+		rm -rf "${FW_REPOLOCAL}"
+	fi
 }
 
 if [[ ${EUID} -ne 0 ]]; then
@@ -192,7 +196,7 @@ if [[ ${EUID} -ne 0 ]]; then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-echo " *** Raspberry Pi firmware updater by Hexxeh, enhanced by AndrewS"
+echo " *** Raspberry Pi firmware updater by Hexxeh, enhanced by AndrewS and Dom"
 
 if [[ ${UPDATE_SELF} -ne 0 ]]; then
 	update_self
@@ -208,13 +212,6 @@ if [[ ${SKIP_KERNEL} -eq 0 ]] && [[ ! -d "${FW_MODPATH}" ]]; then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
-	echo " !!! This tool requires you have Git installed, please install it first"
-	echo "     In Debian, try: sudo apt-get install git-core"
-	echo "     In Arch, try: pacman -S git"
-	exit 1
-}
-
 command -v readelf >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
 	echo " !!! This tool requires you have readelf installed, please install it first"
 	echo "     In Debian, try: sudo apt-get install binutils"
@@ -222,28 +219,26 @@ command -v readelf >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
 	exit 1
 }
 
-echo " *** ARM/GPU split is now defined in /boot/config.txt using the gpu_mem option!"
-if [[ "${FW_REV}" != "" ]]; then
-	download_rev
-	do_update "updated to revision ${FW_REV}"
-elif [[ -f "${FW_REPOLOCAL}/bootcode.bin" ]]; then
-	# ask git server version before spending time cloning
-	GITREV=$(git ls-remote -h "${REPO_URI}" "refs/heads/${BRANCH}" | awk '{print $1}')
-	if [[ -f "${FW_REVFILE}" ]] && [[ $(cat "${FW_REVFILE}") == "$GITREV" ]]; then
-		echo " *** Your firmware is already up to date"
-		# no changes made, nothing to finalise
-		# finalise
-	else
-		update_repo
-		do_update "updated"
-	fi
-else
-	echo " *** We're running for the first time"
-	if [[ -d "${FW_REPOLOCAL}" ]]; then
-		# rpi-update must have errored during the first run
-		rm -rf "${FW_REPOLOCAL}"
-	fi
-	download_repo
-	do_backup
-	do_update "setup"
+# ask github for latest version hash
+REPO_API=${REPO_URI/github.com/api.github.com\/repos}/git/refs/heads/${BRANCH}
+GITREV=$(curl -s ${REPO_URI/github.com/api.github.com\/repos}/git/refs/heads/${BRANCH} | awk '{ if ($1 == "\"sha\":") { print substr($2, 2, 40) } }')
+FW_REV=${FW_REV:-${GITREV}}
+
+if [[ "${FW_REV}" == "" ]]; then
+	echo " *** No hash received from github: ${REPO_API}"
+  # run again with errors not suppressed
+  curl ${REPO_API}
+  exit 1
 fi
+
+if [[ ! -f "${FW_REVFILE}" ]]; then
+	echo " *** We're running for the first time"
+	do_backup
+else
+	if [[ $(cat "${FW_REVFILE}") == "$FW_REV" ]]; then
+		echo " *** Your firmware is already up to date"
+		exit 0
+	fi
+fi
+
+do_update